Unified Ecosystem and "Liquid Glass" Aesthetic

• Unified Versioning: All Apple operating systems — iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS — are now unified under "version 26." This simplifies the numbering scheme, similar to Samsung's past approach.
• "Liquid Glass" UI Redesign: A consistent, transparent, and reflective "liquid glass" aesthetic is applied across all platforms. This visual update treats "every window, every dialogue box, every icon, every sidebar... as a piece of physical glass that's mostly transparent to the things below it." This even extends to "the lock screen clock and some texts, some fonts are clear and transparent."
• Impact on Readability: A significant concern raised is the potential impact on readability. While the OS "is supposed to adapt to it by giving light things, dark backgrounds and dark things, light backgrounds," issues arise with "half light, half dark background," making text "kind of harder to read."
• Visibility by Platform: The "liquid glass" effect is "more obvious in some places" like iOS and macOS, "and less noticeable in some others" like tvOS.

Visual Updates:

• Slightly updated icons.
• "Big glassy clear time" lock screen clock that adapts to the background.
• New "clear home screen setup" option where "all of the widgets and icons are all clear," though readability is questioned.

Redesigned Camera App:

• The camera app has been "super simplified to just photo and video buttons and the shutter," with "a whole bunch of hidden UI" for additional modes and settings like FPS/resolution, suggesting Apple believes users rarely change these.

FaceTime and Phone App Overhauls:

• New FaceTime app with a "new landing page to quickly hit up your main contacts."
• Unified Phone app: "voicemail and missed calls and contacts all into one unified place."

New Communication Features:

• Call Screening (Hold Assist): An automatic feature that screens unknown numbers, answers the call, transcribes what the person says, and then rings the user.
• Hold For Me: "Just waits on hold for you while you do other things. And when it's time to come back, it rings you again." Both features are inspired by Google Pixel's offerings.
• iMessage Improvements: Native polls, typing indicators showing who is typing in group chats, and the ability to add pictures as chat backgrounds. "None of this is groundbreaking or unheard of, but it is nice that they're finally adding it."
• Live Translation: A "most AI-focused thing here" is live translation across FaceTime, Messages, and the Phone app, utilizing "on-device AI models." It allows users to hear and speak in their own language, with translation happening in real-time, though it's noted as "a little laggy."

Other Minor Updates:

• Updates in Maps, Apple Music, and a new Games app.

Mac-like Multitasking and Window Management:

• This is highlighted as "the biggest, most interesting update of the day." Apple has introduced a "whole new multitasking and multi-window system where in any app you can just grab that handle in the bottom right corner and shrink it in and make the app whatever size you want immediately to a floating window." Users can "start stacking floating windows and putting them side by side."

Mac-Inspired UI Elements:

• Three-Dot Window Control ("Stoplights"): Similar to macOS, these allow minimizing or reshaping apps.
• Literal Mac Menu Bar: "At the top of the screen just giving you File, Edit, View menu, Help, just stuff that you see in Mac apps."
• Redesigned Cursor: "Less of a floating blob" and "more like a Mac cursor."

Enhanced Files App:

• Offers more sorting options "the same way you would with the Finder app on a Mac."

Downloads in Dock:

• Users can now have downloads directly in the dock.

Audio Input Selector:

• A seemingly small but significant addition, making it easier to change microphone input sources in media apps.

Background Activities:

• Apps like Final Cut Pro for iPad can now "continue in the background" when closed, "just like a computer."

Strategic Shift:

• This update "moves the iPad, especially like the most powerful iPad Pro, way further on the spectrum of compelling laptop alternatives for certain people." It signals Apple's willingness to "take a lot of wishlist things that people have been talking about with the iPads and gave 'em to us," potentially in "lieu of some other AI stuff."

"Liquid Glass" Implementation:

• More noticeable than tvOS, with "way more very clear elements to it," including a "completely clear" menu bar that "makes your screen feel bigger."

Live Activities Integration:

• iPhone's Live Activities now appear in the Mac's menu bar, allowing users to view information and "bring up the whole iPhone mirrored app" for tracking. "Nice continuity feature."

New Phone App:

• Mirrors the iOS Phone app with unified voicemail and "Hold For Me" features.

Revolutionized Spotlight:

• The "number one biggest update" for productivity users. The new Spotlight "does almost all of that stuff" previously offered by third-party tools like Raycast. It features "suite animation," separates searches for files or shortcuts, allows "shortcuts from the keyboard to open actions inside of certain apps and perform them straight up entire strings of commands." This is described as "getting sherlocked," where Apple incorporates features from popular third-party apps.

watchOS 26:

• "Glassy UI elements," "big touch areas and reflections and glassy buttons galore."
• New Wrist Flick Gesture: A highly anticipated feature allowing users to "just flip it and it goes away" for notifications, calls, or alarms.
• Workout Buddy: A "customizable high energy voice that talks to you at various times that it thinks you need some energy or motivation during your workout," similar to Spotify DJ. Still no group fitness challenges.

visionOS 26: (Vision Pro)

• Unified Versioning: Now visionOS 26.
• Persistent Widgets and Windows: Users can now "pin these things to persistent locations and customize the size and depth and color of them exactly how you want." Crucially, the Vision Pro will now "remember where you put your windows now all the time, like through a reboot and everything."
• Updated Persona Fidelity: "Pretty big jump" in photorealism, making them "less cartoon ghosty."
• Controller Support: Added PlayStation VR2 Sense controller support for "more precise controls in certain games."
• New Environment: A "new Jupiter environment."
• Native 360 Video Support: Playback for cameras from GoPro, Insta360, and Canon.

Deferred Major AI Features:

• The biggest AI-focused Siri upgrade was explicitly "taking too long." Apple stated: "This work required more time to reach our high quality bar and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." (2026).

Integrated AI Strength:

• Apple's AI strength is seen as "much more in how well integrated their features are... how plugged in they are to their ecosystem," rather than raw AI power compared to competitors like Gemini or GPT.

On-Device Foundational Models:

• Apple is making its "own foundational models available for developers to have access to those on device models and build more AI features into their apps." While "probably not" the "best models in the world," they are "on device and local and can be used offline and it will probably be the fastest since they don't have to go to the internet and back." This will lead to "many more apps to have little AI features built into them."

Visual Intelligence:

• Onscreen capabilities for Visual Intelligence, similar to "circle to search" on Android, now available with screenshots on iPhone.